1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for simulating a production environment, and in particular an environment in which a process flow can be divided into a number of distinct process steps.
2. Descriptioon of the Problem Solved
Managing the operation of a production unit or environment effectively is a skillful and stressful enterprise. Strategic and tactical decisions must be made on a frequent basis and the consequences of such decisions may have an unseen and decisive impact on the operation of the production unit. It would be useful if a manager could simulate the operation of his production unit so that the effect of a decision on the unit as a whole could be foreseen in simulation before the decision is made in real life. Systems intended to provide such a simulation are known, but they invariably involve a computer having dedicated software which has been specially designed to simulate a particular process and can be extremely complex and expensive. Such machines may be a justifiable expense in the petrochemical or pharmaceutical industries but are prohibitively expensive for small-scale manufacturing industries. Moreover, it is not normally possible to make even simple changes to the software without going through a long, involved process.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a system which is less complex and more flexible and which in particular can be easily adapted to simulate different process flows. Such a system would potentially have wide applications throughout industry and could bring the possibility of process simulation within the means of small companies.